Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Regional Bank M&A Won’t Easily Fix the Tech Gap

Recent mergers will ensure survival, but digital spending holds the key to gaining market share.

March 3, 2021 at 11:00 AM UTC

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

What’s important is digital strategy.
Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg

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Regional U.S. banks are having something of a moment.

After M&T Bank Corp. agreed last week to buy People’s United Financial Inc. in an $7.6 billon all-stock deal, the KBW Regional Banking Index extended its sharp climb to a record. The deal follows others in recent months, such as Huntington Bancshares Inc.’s purchase of TCF Financial Corp. for about $6 billion and PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s acquisition of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA’s U.S. banking operations for $11.6 billion. Bloomberg News has also reported that Texas regional bank Cadence Bancorp is exploring a sale. All told, the regional banking index is up 27% this year, outpacing the 19.7% advance for the broad KBW Bank Index, which includes the largest financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.